How much would you pay for a Blu-ray player at this juncture?

I'd pay $200 for a high-end blu-ray player with very fast load times.

Or... $100 for a low end.

Why buy a Blue Ray player for a nominal upgrade when you can watch programming on-demand or through a slingbox type aparatus

Either the author is sight impaired or has a horrible TV, blu ray, when properly recorded to disk is an excellent enhancement to Video and perhaps to audio.
The less expensive the player, generally the slower the load times and there may be a decrease in picture / sound quality or features (BD Live). I agree the disks are expensive (unless they are on clearance). This Bovine scattology of paying more just because of new Tech...needs to stop.

I'm more interested in the cost of the movies dropping.

I would rather just buy a PS3 and get the whole package in one deal.

I gotta be honest. If $150 is too much to shell out on a Blu-Ray player (that also upconverts DVD), you have no business shopping HDTV's upwards of 32", either. Think about it.

A few years back, a "good" TV - Sony 27", $350. A "good" DVD player would cost about $50. So based on the price of the TV, you spent 1/7th of that on the disc player. Do the math... today, spending $150 on a player would equate to spending $1050 on the TV. Obviously your mileage may vary depending on where you shop, but I'd guess you'd get somewhere between 40-50" for that money today.

Can't afford that? No problem. Go back to <32" HD/SD TV's and a regular DVD player, since you wouldn't notice the difference in picture detail at that size, anyways. That's pretty much the rule of thumb to go by - keep the price proportions in mind, and base your spending budget on that and some kind marginal price premium for HD content.

Personally, I wouldn't spend more than $900-1200 on a *new* premium TV, $150-200 on the corresponding disc player, and more than a ~10-15% premium on the cable bill/disc buying for HD content.

I really don't see what the big deal is about the player prices, it's the disc prices that makes me shake my head.

I agree with Duncan. I have a glorious HP Pavilion HDX with a 1080p 20 inch screen, with a Blu-Ray player and an HDMI output in case I want to watch Blu-Rays on the notebook or whenever I get an HDTV. If a Blu-ray has not just good durable build and quality, but also fast loading, AND has some really cool media center/streaming features I'd pay $200-$300 for a more high end one. I don't get where the writer is saying that Blue ray has only a nominal increase in picture quality over DVD though.. Blu-ray looks phenomenal.

I download most movies that I rent or buy, occasionally I go to Red Box to rent, I have no reason to buy a Blue Ray player.

Why reward Blu-ray for price-goudging? Although I've waited decades for a high-quality TV picture on a big screen, I will not pay premium prices for the equipment or the movies. Few movies interest me enough to pay $30 for them. When Blu-ray movies are down near the price of two theater tickets, I will start buying them. NOW is the time to buy bargain classics on VHS tape or DVD. A friend of mine found old movie DVD's in a clearance bin for 10 cents each!

Blu-ray is the best thing that ever happen to home theater. If you care so much about how much you pay for it than you should watch only VHS. There is price that you have to pay on everything. So if you want the best, you have to pay more. THAT"S the American way!

$30 or more per blu-ray movie, and you watch movies how many times? I might watch them 2x in my lifetime if they are really good.
So purchasing movies on Blu-ray is just too expensive right now, waiting for the movie to play on an HD movie channel is a better deal. Or watching it on netflix HD Roku box also is good. But even if the BluRay players were priced "FREE", at the current disc prices, it is insame to purchase the discs, unless you are filthy rich, in that case, who cares about price.

Blu-Ray players and movies are priced the way they are because Sony managed to do with Blu-Ray that which they attempted and failed to do with Betamax which is corner the market.

Sony licenses all manufacurers of Blu-Ray players and discs and they dictate the price ranges they will be allow to sell at.